Westlake rolls to easy win over rival Royal

It’s as if Michael Tack knew the play was coming his way the whole time.

The Westlake High senior baited Zach Collins to throw the ball in his direction and when the quarterback from Royal obliged, Tack intercepted the pass, returned the miscue 90 yards for a touchdown and the Warriors went on to a 38-0 victory over the host Highlanders on Friday night in a Marmonte League game.

“I jumped the route,’’ Tack said, referring to his second-quarter pick that gave Westlake what proved to be an insurmountable 21-0 lead at halftime. “Once I got the ball, I had one man to beat, it was Collins. I just kept my feet moving, I used everything I had in the tank to reach the end zone.’’

Despite the deficit, Royal (3-5, ) was resilient. Ultimately, however, the Warriors (8-0, 5-0) were too tough. Tavior Mowry, in particular.

The junior running back picked up 52 yards on the ground on Westlake’s first possession. He capped the 79-yard drive, which took less than two minutes off the clock, with a 5-yard touchdown run to make it 7-0 with 6:24 left in the first quarter.

Mowry fnished with 112 rushing yards on 17 carries before heading to the sidelines for good in the fourth quarter.

“I don’t need a big hole to run through, just a little crack, but to be honest. My offensive line did a great job tonight,’’ Mowry said. “They deserve the credit. They made some huge blocks for me. It was like Moses parting the Red Sea.’’

The Warriors fed off the Mowry momentum and took a 14-0 lead with 45 seconds remaining in the first quarter when Nick Isham connected with Tuck on a 49-yard touchdown pass.

Royal attempted to answer with a score of its own minutes later.

Collins found Ryan Stevens for passes of 8 and 20 yards, then hit Kyle Gauthier on a 10-yarder to move the ball deep into Westlake territory. Two incomplete passes led to a 34-yard field-goal attempt that sailed wide.

“We came out fired up,’’ Mowry said. “We weren’t going to let up.’’

Never was that more apparent than during the opening minutes of the second half.

On third-and-long, Isham hit Max Klinedinst on an 18-yard pass for a first down. Two plays later, the tandem hooked up again, this time on a 5-yard touchdown to extend the lead to 28-0 with 9:17 left in the third quarter.

David Ortiz created a turnover at midfield a few minutes later, and the Warriors took advanatge of the turnover when Isham threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Nelson Spruce to give Westlake a 35-0 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.

“I have athletes all around me, playmakers that make plays’’ Isham said. “It’s nice having weapons. It makes my job a lot easier.’’

Alex Ball tacked on a 41-yard field goal for Westlake with 5:24 left in the fourth quarter.

“Royal is one of our rivals,’’ Tuck said. “We weren’t going to overlook them. We came out ready to play hard. This is a big win for us.’’